Confusion

Andrew & I drove to Louisville to see Dr. W (my new-old plastic surgeon) Friday. Dr. W was very professional and courteous. He examined me and approved of the implant placement and appearance. However, he differed significantly from Dr. S (plastic surgeon from Evansville) about several things. First, he disagreed about the degree of bottoming-out I have. He didn't seem to think bottoming-out was much of an issue. He also disagreed about further surgery. His advice was to give myself closer to a year to heal and see if that mitigates the pain issues I'm having. He did not think smaller implants would help the pain issues or be aesthetically pleasing. He was actually quite concerned about another surgery so soon after my other issues of the past year (or two). He was also of a different opinion from Dr. S about the degree of retraction of my pectoral muscles. He had me push my hand down on my hip. Doing so moved the implant -- proving to him that the implant is indeed under the muscle. I pointed out that Dr. S said that the muscle had attached to the skin -- causing the implant to move when the muscle contracted. He looked dubious about that. Both explanations make logical/anatomical sense to me. However, he could not explain my lack of collar-bone hollows after my mastectomy & reconstruction. Like Dr. S he also doesn't really have any idea why I am having pain issues. However, unlike Dr. S he gave me some muscle relaxers since to it seems the pain originates with muscle spasms and/or contractions. The doctors bra preferences are also markedly different -- Dr S recommends very tight underwires, but Dr. W recommends well-fitting and supportive sports bras. He recommended even trying some sporting-goods stores (like Dick's) for some high $$, high performance, high support bras.

All-in-all I think it was a good visit. It wasn't what I was hoping, but at least he seems more concerned with getting me to feel better as opposed to simply focusing on my appearance. I actually broke down and teared up when I was trying to explain that something needs to be done to help me. I pointed out that I'm only 30 and already going to a pain management doctor. I go back in a month. He told me to continue seeing the pain management doctor for the time being. He also suggested to continue (re-start) my massage therapy. As I told him, at this point I am grasping at any straw presented to me.